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David Merkel is an investment professional, and like every investment professional, he makes mistakes. David encourages you to do your own independent "due diligence" on any idea that he talks about, because he could be wrong. Nothing written here, at RealMoney, Wall Street All-Stars, or anywhere else David may write is an invitation to buy or sell any particular security; at most, David is handing out educated guesses as to what the markets may do. David is fond of saying, "The markets always find a new way to make a fool out of you," and so he encourages caution in investing. Risk control wins the game in the long run, not bold moves. Even the best strategies of the past fail, sometimes spectacularly, when you least expect it. David is not immune to that, so please understand that any past success of his will be probably be followed by failures. Also, though David runs Aleph Investments, LLC, this blog is not a part of that business. This blog exists to educate investors, and give something back. It is not intended as advertisement for Aleph Investments; David is not soliciting business through it. When David, or a client of David's has an interest in a security mentioned, full disclosure will be given, as has been past practice for all that David does on the web. Disclosure is the breakfast of champions. Additionally, David may occasionally write about accounting, actuarial, insurance, and tax topics, but nothing written here, at RealMoney, or anywhere else is meant to be formal "advice" in those areas. Consult a reputable professional in those areas to get personal, tailored advice that meets the specialized needs that David can have no knowledge of.

Book Review: Rich Like Them

Suppose you wanted to write a book about “how the other half lives.” Well, make that how the 1-in-200 lives. You could dig up statistics on the wealthy, chronicle those who are showy in our society, and write a book about the glamour of the well-to-do.

Now imagine that instead of doing that, you decided to start knocking on the doors of estates, and ask the owners how they achieved their august status. For the one in four that humored your request you would learn some interesting truths that are pretty plebian. That is the story told in “Rich Like Them.”

The author, Ryan D’Agostino spent time traveling through the 100 wealthiest zip codes in the US, getting stories from the wealthy that would give him time. He tells the tales in the mode of a storyteller, loosely organized under five chapters, and teaching the following lessons:

Find opportunities that others don’t see.

So-called luck favors those who are prepared to profit from volatility.

Love what you do. Do what you love.

Take risks. If you work smart and hard, those risks will be reduced.

Be humble. Realize what you can’t do, and work on what you can do.

The people he interviewed were in fairly ordinary businesses, but they conducted business in ways that added a lot of value to customers. The interviews revealed many of them to be pretty ordinary people who were in the right place at the right time, but they put forth the effort that many would not, in order to build a successful business.

The book is discursive, structuring the story around his journeys, and around the lessons that he learned. The author could have summarized more, as many books on business do, but given the way he decided to write the book, beating people over the head with the conclusions would not have fit the author’s style.

I liked the book, and would particularly recommend it to those that want to work for themselves, but have little idea of how to pursue that goal.

PS — Remember, I don’t have a tip jar, but I do do book reviews. If you enter Amazon through a link on my site and buy things from them, I get a small commission, and you don’t pay anything extra. If you wanted to get it anyway, it is good for both of us…

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About David Merkel

David J. Merkel, CFA, FSA, is a leading commentator at the excellent investment website RealMoney.com. Back in 2003, after several years of correspondence, James Cramer invited David to write for the site, and write he does — on equity and bond portfolio management, macroeconomics, derivatives, quantitative strategies, insurance issues, corporate governance, and more. His specialty is looking at the interlinkages in the markets in order to understand individual markets better.
David is also presently a senior investment analyst at Hovde Capital, responsible for analysis and valuation of investment opportunities for the FIP funds, particularly of companies in the insurance industry. He also manages the internal profit sharing and charitable endowment monies of the firm.
Prior to joining Hovde in 2003, Merkel managed corporate bonds for Dwight Asset Management. In 1998, he joined the Mount Washington Investment Group as the Mortgage Bond and Asset Liability manager after working with Provident Mutual, AIG and Pacific Standard Life.
His background as a life actuary has given David a different perspective on investing. How do you earn money without taking undue risk? How do you convey ideas about investing while showing a proper level of uncertainty on the likelihood of success? How do the various markets fit together, telling us us a broader story than any single piece? These are the themes that David will deal with in this blog.
Merkel holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Johns Hopkins University. In his spare time, he takes care of his eight children with his wonderful wife Ruth. View all posts by David Merkel →